Rose, who's had Butler on his show and counts him as a friend, included him in a year-end memorial piece on New Year's Eve. Producers even created a graphic tombstone: "George Butler R.I.P. 1943-2008."

But Butler, the filmmaker, is still alive. Another George Butler, a jazz musician who played with Wynton Marsalis, is the one who died this year.

Such is the state of media, even at highbrow, self-serious PBS fare like The Charlie Rose Show: We have time to make infographics, but not for factchecking. Rose called the live Butler three times on New Year's Day to apologize.

Here's Butler on Rose's show in 2004 discussing Going Upriver, his documentary on John Kerry's Vietnam War experience: